5 great gifts for foodie geeks

​There is a rather large section of the foodie population that gleefully self-identifies as geeks. It makes sense, as only a geek could get excited about things like sous vide or which varietal of hop provides the best counterbalance for your home microbrew.We at the Hot Dish have found some wonderful ideas for the nerdy nosher in your life.

One of the more interesting things about the original Star Wars trilogy was how darkly the second film, The Empire Strikes Back, ended. Luke loses his hand after finding out Darth Vader is his father, and Han Solo is frozen in carbonite and taken off to the villainous Jabba. These ice cubes re-create the iconic image of Han in suspended animation, which allows Star Wars fans to see Han suspended in their old-fashioned.

Everyone who has seen any of the Star Wars movies has dreamed of all the amazing things they could do if they just had their very own lightsaber. These chopsticks may not cut through metal doors or make a cool humming noise, but they certainly will distract people from the fact that you just clumsily dropped your spicy tuna roll onto your lap. They come in six designs, and purists will be glad to note that the Yoda version is shorter than the others.

One of the most popular characters in the Star Wars franchise never said a single word. In fact, its not even technically alive. Granted, the lack of impressively expressive bleeps and bloops does make this pepper grinder a little less fun. But it is still satisfying to twist the dome and watch this little droid crap pepper onto your Caesar salad.

Everyone's favorite pill-popping, ghost-munching disembodied head, Pac-Man is one of the world's most beloved video game characters. And now he can help prevent nasty burns in his new role as an oven mitt.

Atari was one of the first companies to make it possible for people to play Pac-Man at home on their own televisions. These cocktail glasses feature the classic one-button joystick responsible for so many hand cramps back in the day. They sport the now adorably retro Atari logo, and they also include cocktail recipes based on classic Atari games like Breakout and Battle Zone. Be careful, though. We read a story once about a guy who drank one too many Pitfalls and tried to swing across a crocodile pond.

Before Halo or Starcraft or even Metroid, video gamers were fending off alien attack in Space Invaders. Apparently they didn't do a very thorough job, because these two got through and are now invading dining tables. We blame Michele Bachmann.